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JennyJukes

Thanks savingwannabe
My bad luck run hasn't really stopped. Yesterday I cut my finger dicing potatoes then I immediately locked myself out our building! Luckily a lovely neighbour let me back and hey its been giving my colleagues multiple opportunities to make jokes at my expense
My virgin bill is just the internet which some salesman got me to buy last year when I wasn't so savvy. The extra £20 was for a moving fee. My contract runs out in August so I'll get something new in then.
I have no idea about all these Virgin channels, fire stick etc tbh. I just know I had Sky with my ex. I have no idea how much it cost but I did always ask him to cancel it because we very rarely used it. That guy had more money than sense though (still does).

So of course I realised last night and today that I had a bunch of essentials to get - even though I got everything non-branded or the cheapest it still ended up being more than I thought! I did avoid temptation of buying any treats though so it's fine.

Today I spent £9.55 on groceries which takes me to:
Groceries: £20.53/£25 for the week
Petrol: £20.83/£55 for the month

And this time I definitely should have enough to last me until sometime next week! I boiled some of the potatoes I have left over and mixed in some cheese and onion then topped with more cheese and tomatoes! Tasted really yummy and will get a few side meals out of that. Gonna make a fish with white sauce and leave some for my tea on Saturday then I have some ingredients for pasta for Sunday onwards. Friday I'll be having my meal out and a few well-earned drinks!

savingwannabe

Yikes to cut finger. lol to being locked out - it happens all the time so don't worry.

Look at the MSE section - Deals? or Utilities? for prices of internet and virgin etc and hopefully you will get a lower price one. If you can afford it freesat or freeview are great.

Your food budget looks great. I hope you have a good rest of the day.

JennyJukes

Well that was my entertainment night out

Spent £57.80/£60 from my monthly budget and i'm only a week into it! This got me a meal, enough money to get drunk, cigarettes (which I only smoke when drinking and will last me until last time) and a taxi home! Also exercise because I went walking for cigarettes only to find the shops were closed and the pub sold them the whole time This is the only night out I had planned for this monthly budget so I'm on track. Can't believe I used to spend up to £200 on a night out. It was a good night out but I really should have got home earlier - I was ready to leave at around 1:30am and I had been drinking water since around 11pm but I had to make sure one of my friends who missed the last bus got home ok. Otherwise I would be happy to have a meal, a few drinks and be in bed by 10pm! When my boyfriend is back I want to mostly spend the entertainment budget doing things with him and then I could spend a little money on a meal and maybe one drink with colleagues and still remain within budget. Need to work on that saying no and doing things for myself thing.

It also makes it difficult because my colleagues like to split the bill at meals and use a kitty to pay for our drinks. Obviously it would be easier to control my budget and choose cheaper options if I was paying by myself - and I also wouldn't have 2 drinks in a row because everyone was finished before me - but that's the easier way for them to pay so... but I have learnt once my money is up, it's up. I'll split our meal and put money into a kitty and if I'm at or over budget then that's it.

Also had to pop in and get milk for my breakfasts and tea before I went out. Also for my pasta later but I don't think I'm going to be fit enough for it anyway! Tomorrow I also need to try get that laptop insurance cancelled - I tried looking at other policies but they all have an excess plus monthly fee and at the moment there is no excess. So really not sure what to do as my laptop IS high value.. I looked at trading it in to get a voucher for a new one ..... £25-£87 for a 1.5 year old £900 laptop!? :eek::eek: Wow. I need to really think about what I'm going to do on this one. I mean, there is room for it in the budget and I'd probably have to pay more than my yearly fee if I did break and it put it to a store. I'll need to have a look around on this one!

So spendings so far:
Groceries: £21.62/£25
Entertainment: £57.80/£60 (could have got an extra shot in there :rotfl:)
Petrol: £20.83/£55

savingwannabe

Lol to your monthly budget some month's are like that. I am only travelling to Lymington as my friends are paying my train fare (as i am helping them with something) and my monthly budget died a death last week.

OMG to the laptop insurance. I hope there is a way to get it sorted. It is frightening that something so expensive can depreciate so much.

JennyJukes

Transferred the £3.38 leftover from the weekly grocery budget into my savings. Not much and it won't make much difference as I need to take out savings tomorrow to pay for my new clutch. I want to get into this habit for when I am saving money, if that ever happens. I am still waiting for my previous rent arrears (should be less than £200) and energy company to come through too.

I am looking to save an emergency fund of £3000 then I will create a new savings account for everything else. Currently my savings today are:
Help2Buy ISA: £6584.95
Emergency Fund: £2141.84

But the emergency fund is going to be down around £450-£550 tomorrow. I don't know how long it will take to build it up to £3000. I have a few low value things on gumtree that haven't went yet and I'm sure I have a few more I can sell when I eventually get round to cleaning up the house

In the mean time there is one proactive thing I can do to up my savings/income - time to apply for some new jobs! I have around 3 I'm interested in. My job is at least secure until March but not sure for how much longer. It's a charity and my role is a new one so it's not really stable. I've always went for low-income jobs because I felt that's all I would be good at but I want to start pushing myself for better.

savingswannabe you're so right. I've spoke to my boyfriend about this before. How sometimes I see people with really nice cars and I get jealous and think about financing then realise my car would lose monetary value even after a week and buying something expensive doesn't mean it's not going to cost me lots in repairs!

savingwannabe

Well done on paying for the clutch with your emergency savings - that takes some of the pressure off.

Your savings are looking good. I like the idea of adding left over food money to your savings.

Your job sounds good - it's scary though how many jobs are not permanent and just for a period of time. That is the current way that employers do things. In a way it is good as you are always on your toes looking for new jobs when your contract ends. I am working to become a bit more adventurous on the job scene when i finally apply for a driving licence.

I hope you have a good week.

JennyJukes

Been told my clutch is "only" going to cost around £350 to repair... that's the lower end of what I was being quoted so happy there.

Yes savingswannabe, having a car opens up many opportunities for jobs but on the other hand if it gets broken into or you crash it, you have to pay out and could potentially be out of work if you rely on having your car!! A family friend recently crashed their car, was at fault and their MOT had just expired - that will affect her insurance, points on her license etc so could potentially affect her work as she needs a car for it.. That's my worry about having such an old car, if it goes in for repair or breaks down and I need a new one then I'm out of work for that period of time.

Did a shopping list to get in some food for this week - I totalled it up and I was looking at almost my weekly budget for everything! I re-checked my cupboards to see what I had and could use instead and was able to take around 7 items off . Shocks me to think about how much food and money I used to waste! But at the same time it can be a bit depressing to deny yourself a little treat here and there.

Really would like to see my emergency fund get up to £3000. This will probably take a year at this rate. I was thinking of maybe reducing my H2B ISA to £150 and put the extra £50 into my emergency fund each month as I'm not likely looking to buy a house in 2 years. Think that would take an extra year to max it out. I could always top it back up to the £200 if I get a better job. Decisions, decisions. Life was easier in some ways when you didn't care about your budget and spending

JennyJukes

Ugh.

Noticed on my virgin media contract they renewed my contract when I moved a few weeks ago without me knowing.

I had a contract of £27 per month for 12 months (until September) but they have changed my contract to now change from my moving date for another 12 months.

I called to find out what was happening and they told me the contract changes when you move. I wasn't advised of this and their website says if you move and don't change your services, your contract remains the same. I was advised on the telephone call now that I pay my discounted price of £27 until September as originally but it will go up to £42 afterwards until my contract ends next July?! I didn't sign anything nor see anything in my contract saying this. I asked how much a termination fee would be (I see it's up to £240) but he couldn't tell me and said phone back when my discounted fee is coming to an end.......

He said he will file a complaint on my behalf as I wasn't informed of this but I'll be doing my own! Really annoyed by this. Never understood why people disliked Virgin Media but do now!

JennyJukes

Well got a call to say my car won't be fixed until tomorrow. So had to walk home as I had no money in my purse and all my other colleagues were out for the day. It was around 30 minutes and not that bad really. Same again tomorrow tomorrow but downhill so will be easier. In hindsight I'm very shaky and nervy today so I don't think driving is a good idea anyway.

Went to the store after I got back and spent £18.46/£25 for this week. That includes food bin bags and laundry detergent. Still need to get rolls, milk, pasta and salad. I did forget ham for my lunch roll but I have cheese, onions and tomatoes to use up so it'll do. Petrol is still the same as I haven't been driving much so shouldn't need to top up another £20 until next week or so. Have a new client who is miles out so that'll boost some expenses.

I really understand why people go for convenience foods especially when you live alone and/or work. Would love nothing more than to magic food right now as I'm so tired but gotta plod on. Off to make some chicken pie with my leftover potatoes that are beginning to sprout. I have ingredients to make lasagne and mac & cheese plus some sausages and egg so guess that's what I'm living off of this week

Only 22 days until payday :rotfl:

JennyJukes

Well the £350 turned out to be £390.37 but still, not £500+.
Savings are now:

Help2Buy ISA: £6584.96
Emergency Fund: £1753.12
Total: £8338.08

I might have to transfer more savings into my current account to cover unexpected extras on my bills and rent arrears/energy company debts coming up. Around £200 I think. Is it payday yet?

Just won 2x £100 Super Dry gift cards through Klarna Uk Instagram!! :j:j